The Bane and Gray Days
by Living In Fandoms
Summary: A series of one-shots set during the time Tessa went to live with Magnus. How will he treat her? What will they do during their time together?
1. Your Home

**This my firs fanfic. Constructive reviews are appreciated. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Infernal Devices.**

Chapter 1: Your Home

The only thing Magnus Bane hates more than someone stealing his glitter, is someone waking him up. Okay, maybe the former more than the latter. But still.

He looked at the clock and saw that it was 1:30 in the morning. _God_, he thought, _why would anyone knock on my door at a time like this?_ He decided to ignore it, but the knocker was so persistent. With his feet bare, he made his way to the door, cursing under his breath. "WHO DARES," he shouted in French as he flung the door open, "DISTURB MYــــــ"

He was cut short when he saw her gray eyes, and it was enough for him to know who it was. Tessa Herondale. Standing at his door in Paris at 1:30 a.m.

She looked up at him with vulnerable eyes. She was wearing simple clothes, too simple for someone whose husband was once the head of the London Institute. Then his anger turned into worry. Where was Will? Why was she here in the middle of the night? But after taking one glance at the suitcase in her hand, and then realizing that she was wearing white, the color of mourning for Shadowhunters, he immediately understood.

Before she could say anything, he took her suitcase and said, "Please, come inside."

He lived in a small attic, with a little bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchenette, and a living room with moonlight pouring in through the window. Magnus put Tessa's suitcase next to the wall, then ushered her to sit on the couch, and as she did, he took a good look at her. The first thing he noticed was how young she looked. Nineteen, perhaps twenty or twenty-one, but not older. Nonetheless, he knew that she was more than seventy. And he wasn't surprised, of course; she was immortal, like him.

And she looked exhausted, with dark circles under her gray eyes, like she hadn't slept in days. Her pile of curly brown hair was joined in a careless bun. And she was remarkably thinner than usual, her clothes hanging a little loose at the shoulders.

"Thank you, Magnus," she said in an uncharacteristic small voice, "I was not sure if you would let me in, but I had nowhere else to go."

He blinked at that. "You thought I would not let you in?" he asked, honestly baffled, "Come on, Tessa. You ought to know better. We're friends, are we not?"

Tessa tried to smile, and Magnus remembered that her smile was beautiful and truthful. But this time, it came out wrong. It was sad and vague, like someone talking underwater. And he felt his sympathy leap towards her, for he has never seen her look so devastated, not even when Jem turned into a Silent Brother. Sure enough, that was because Jem was still around, whereas Will was gone. Forever.

"You have certainly proven over the years that you are a good friend," she said. Magnus did not have many friends; he preferred being feared over being loved, but Tessa was different. However, that did not change the fact that he had no idea how to reply to the comment that she made, so instead he asked, "Would you like some tea?"

"Yes, please."

The truth is, Magnus didn't offer tea just out of politeness or awkwardness. He offered it because he needed a minute to think of and process the news.

William Herondale was dead.

Will, with his dark blue eyes and ink black hair; Magnus had always had a weakness for those colors. Will, with his wit and sarcastic comments. Will, who, for five years, pushed away anyone who tried to love him because he believed he was cursed, and Magnus had helped him get rid of that fake curse. Will, who loved his family and his _parabatai_ more fiercely than anyone Magnus knew throughout his life. Will, who was the first Shadowhunter that Magnus ever called a friend, who proved to him that not all the Nephilim treated Downworlders like inferiors. William Herondale, who was dead.

Magnus felt a tear trickle down his cheek. No, he could not cry, especially not in front of Tessa, Will's wife. _Widow_, he corrected himself. He wiped the tear away, and went back to Tessa. He has never consoled someone before, so he was not really sure what to do or say. He silently poured her some tea, and she was looking blankly at the moon outside.

"I take it you figured out why I am here?" Tessa asked. He nodded, "When did it happen?"

"About six months ago."

"Six months ago? Why was I not informed? And, more importantly, why did you not come here earlier? Do not tell me you feared I would not welcome you."

"I did fear that. But I also had other things to do."

"I see. Just out of curiosity, how did you find my address?"

"Jem gave it to me." She sipped some tea.

For a minute, they were both silent, grieving. Then Tessa set down her cup, having finished it. "I have no idea what to do now, Magnus," she said, and Magnus could tell that she was holding back tears, but she was good at it, "I doubt the Clave would appreciate it if I stayed with them, for I am not a Shadowhunter, not really. And besides, being around them brings back too many memories. And yet, I was trained as Shadowhunter. I only know the basics of magic, so I cannot work as a warlock, either."

Magnus thought about that. It was true, the Clave doesn't like those who have demon blood, and Tessa could not and should not go back to them. She is half-Shadowhunter half-demon. So she is neither a Shadowhunter nor a warlock. She is one of a kind. Magnus made a decision.

"I will teach you," he said. Tessa raised her eyebrows in surprise, "Teach me? Teach me what?"

"Why, magic, of course," he said, "What else? I could teach you tap dancing if you would like, but I doubt that it would benefit you much."

Tessa chuckled, and Magnus was glad for that change. "You know how to tap dance?" she asked.

"There is a lot you do not know about me, darling," he said, smiling, "And when you live for long, you have enough time to learn even the smallest things ــــ It can be fun," he added quickly, after seeing the sad expression return to her face at the mention of living for long.

"But what you really need now," Magnus continued, "is sleep. I can see that you are very tired. You can sleep on the ــــ er…" He thought of the one bed occupying his small room; it wasn't like Tessa would want to sleep on the same bed as him.

"It is alright, I can sleep on the couch," Tessa said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I do not want to be a heavy guest."

"Do not consider yourself a guest, my dear. From now till you are ready, this will be your home."


	2. Nothing Day

**Chapter Two: Nothing Day**

1939

"Is this supposed to be a horse?"

Magnus turned around to see Tessa looking considerately at his painting. He didn't particularly like painting, nor was he good at it. It was just another way to pass time. Business was slow; war was in the air.

"It's a cat," he answered.

"Oh. My second guess was a giraffe," Tessa teased.

"You offend me." It was nice having Tessa around. Nice, but strange, even after two years. Magnus rarely lived with friends. He always either lived by himself or with a lover, not with someone he didn't look at with affinity or lust.

It had taken Magnus months to get Tessa to eat regularly and not cry every single night. When she still got nightmares, he usually laid down next to her until she could sleep again. It was a kindness even he was surprised he had.

Now they were getting used to each other; he knew how much sugar she liked in her tea, and she knew when he liked to take a nap and not be disturbed.

"What do you want to do today? Learn a new spell?" asked Magnus. He had been teaching her magic so that when she was ready, she can start getting business on her own. "Hmm. I don't know. I don't really feel like doing anything today," she answered.

"So, like… a Nothing Day?"

She smiled brightly, "A Nothing Day."

There were a lot of days when they didn't do much, but it was never quite so official. They didn't really do _nothing at all_. Instead they did fun, useless things that did not require much energy. Painting discarded, Magnus got out an old deck of cards, and they played for a long time. They also played chess, cooked horrible food but ate it anyway, and, finally, sat down to drink some champagne. It was the first time they drank together –Tessa wasn't much of a drinker- then they danced to no music. It wasn't a romantic dance, just messing around with Magnus 'teaching' her tap dancing, which Tessa figured he is actually horrible at.

At last, they retired to the velvet couch with more champagne, exhausted from doing 'nothing'.

"You know," Tessa said after a few minutes of silence, "I really don't know many things about you, do I? You have known me most of my life, and you know most things about me. Whereas I don't even know how old you are. How old _are_ you?"

Magnus was startled. Tessa never asked him personal questions, nor did he offer any information. He didn't like to talk about it, and usually lied about his age. But Tessa's sweet, curious face, as well as the champagne, made him answer honestly, "I am in my mid three hundreds."

Her eyes grew wide, "Really? Wow."

Magnus had to laugh at that, "Do you think that is a lot? It is only a fraction of forever, darling. I once met a warlock who was almost two thousand years old. You and I, Tessa, we still have a long way to go."

He hated to scare her like that, hated to see her face fall down like she was Atlas, holding the weight of the world on her shoulders. She was a young warlock, she was not supposed to feel so old so early. Then again, most warlocks didn't go through her pain: not only has she lost her lover, she has lost her whole family, her whole life, and it wasn't even the first time she had been through that.

But that is life for you. No matter how good one was, one always met life's bad side. Tessa had to understand that this was her life now. There is no going back, only moving forward; going on and on and on as the world around them changed while they remained frozen until they finally got killed by God knows what.

"What about…" Tessa hesitated, then whispered, "What about your father? Do you know who it is? Do warlocks usually seek out their fathers? Do some warlocks have demon _mothers_?"

If Magnus hated talking about his age, he hated talking about his father even more. So instead of answering, he asked, "Do you really wish to know who your father is? Who the demon that did unspeakable things to your mother is? I find that peculiar."

"It's just… everyone comes from somewhere; and everyone wishes to know where they come from, don't they? And you still haven't answered my questions."

Sometimes Magnus forgot just how stubborn Tessa is.

He sighed, "Yes, if you must know. I do know who my father is. I didn't seek him out, though. I found out by accident. Excuse the rhyme."

"Who is he, then?"

"He is…" Should he tell her? What if she got frightened by him? He had a better idea. "All I will tell you about him is that he is one of the nine Princes of Hell." He watched as her jaw dropped open. "And you homework, Miss Gray, is to find out precisely which one. You can use the books I have only; no help from Catarina or Ragnor, who do know who my father is. Your reward will be a piece of chocolate," he smiled charmingly at her.

"Ch-chocolate? You know I hate chocolate! No. If I find out, which I will, you shall make me pancakes. _Tasty_ pancakes," she said with determination, "Deal?"

"Deal."

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><p><strong>Thank you for the nice reviews, favorites, and follows! I hope you like this chapter as well :) Hopefully the next chapter will include more action. Do you think I should write from Tessa's POV?<strong>


	3. Save the Baby

**Chapter Three: Save the Baby**

1941

Tessa was staring out her window in New York, looking at the desperate faces making their way to work. It was a sunny morning, but there was nothing shiny about it; the sun beams seemed to be overrun by the desperation of war.

She truly wished she could help, and often she asked Magnus if there was some sort of magic that could lessen the causalities or make things peaceful between politicians. He had said there was, of course, but had made it very clear that it was not the place of those from the Shadow World to interfere in mundane wars; they needed to settle things on their own.

Magnus and Tessa had seen their fair share of destruction. War had raged on so intensely in France that they had to move here, to NY. Tessa had been hesitant about the decision. She hadn't seen her hometown ever since she had left it back in 1878. And now, 63 years later, it was another city: the high buildings, the cars and streets, even the air, and it was all overwhelming.

"I'm home," Magnus shouted at the front door, and Tessa got up to help him sort out the groceries. When one did not have maids, one had to learn how to cook, and, after practice, Tessa found that she isn't half bad at it.

"I brought you chocolate. The best in the market!" Magnus smirked.

Tessa sighed, "Are you ever going to stop teasing me about my hatred for chocolate? Don't answer that," she added quickly, "I just don't see the big deal about it."

"You're missing out on a lot in life," he said, shaking his head.

Sometimes, even after all this time, Tessa wondered what Aunt Harriet would say about a girl who lives alone with man she is in no way related to. Not that she cared, but she had a sneaky suspicion that her aunt would be outraged.

She opened her mouth to give him a smart comeback, but was cut off by the sound of a woman screaming outside.

She and Magnus headed quickly towards the window, and since she was trained to have sharp eyesight, she saw it before he did. A fire. And it was spreading quickly in the building opposite them.

Tessa had heard of enough people dying in fires to think that the firemen will arrive in time, if at all. And this was no political issue, there were people in there, and they were going to die if Tessa and Magnus didn't help them quickly.

She dashed towards the door, and Magnus seemed to realize that there was no point arguing with her, and followed. Tessa climbed down the steps hastily, with Magnus at her heels, then emerged through the front door to the stinking smell of smoke filling the air.

Screams were filling the air as well. People were screaming either in agony or in horror. Other, calmer people were getting jugs of water, but Tessa knew that was hopeless. The fire was already reaching the next building, devouring everything in its path.

She heard the same woman screaming again, and this time she could make out coherent words: "My son! My baby! He's inside! Help me, PLEASE!"

Without meaning to, Tessa imagined what it would be like if she were that woman, and the baby inside were her own son, James. She looked at Magnus, as she always did where magic was involves. She could see in his cat eyes that he understood her desperation for helping that woman. He had never been a parent, but he had a soft spot for kids, Tessa knew.

He moved towards the woman, whose screams were lost in a sea of sounds. Tessa saw from the corner of her eye that the fire was on its way to the third building.

"Where is your son, ma'am?" Magnus asked the woman. She was startled for a moment –at Magnus's eyes, no doubt- before pointing at the first building and saying, "In that one. Third floor. I don't know how, but please, _please_ save him."

Tessa and Magnus made their way through the crowd. There were people lying on the floor with awful injuries, and others with more minor ones. Those who knew some things about healing were doing their best to help.

When they reached the building, the front door was wide open, and still a somewhat intact. But Tessa could see the red and blue flames inside. She knew there were fireproof runes, but she didn't know of any magic for that use.

As if reading her thoughts, Magnus said, "We have to use magic on ourselves to make us fireproof."

He snapped his fingers, blue sparks flying, then they entered.

The smoke and heat hit them like a wave, and Tessa felt nauseated. She and Magnus started coughing furiously while making their way up the first staircase. The fire and smoke thickened as they ascended the last, fragile staircase. Suddenly, one of the steps gave away under Magnus's weight and he tripped and fell.

"Magnus! Are you okay?" She moves around him, careful of her weight, to get a better look. Magnus groaned and tried to pull himself up, but even with Tessa help, they couldn't; he was stuck.

It was becoming very hard to breathe, and Tessa could hear the faint cries of baby. Even if he didn't die burning, he was in grave danger of suffocating.

"Go, Tessa! Go! Get the baby and get out of here," shouted Magnus.

"But I can't lea-"

"I said go! I can take care of myself." Magnus's eyes were begging. One of the things they taught Shadowhunters –and her- is making quick decisions. Magnus was a warlock, he could get himself out using magic, whereas the baby was only a mundane…

Tessa got up and moved towards the sound of the cries, growing fainter and fainter. Then she got into a room and saw a crib. She also saw, to her horror, that the roof right over the crib was crumbling; she wouldn't be able to get to the baby in time, and she knew she had to use magic.

It was the first time she had to use magic for something serious. She went back to Magnus's words when he had taught her. _Imagine that the thing is an obeying human, and you're telling it to do what you want it to do. Will it to do it, and imagine it doing it. After all, seeing is believing._

She thrust her hands out towards the roof and imagined it freezing in place, blue sparks flew out of her hands and hit it, and it stopped crumbling. Tessa only had a moment to be happy her magic worked. There was a baby to save, and she could barely breathe anymore.

She went to the crib and got the baby out, but when she turned to back to the door she found that the flames had already reached it. Going through the flames wasn't an option because she didn't know the spell Magnus used to make one fireproof so she couldn't use it on the boy. She looked out the window to see if she could jump, and that triggered a memory at the back of her mind of Will telling her, the first time they had met, that she wouldn't survive a fall from the third floor. But that had been before she received her training.

She backed up, holding the baby close to her chest, then ran and jumped, all her years of survival training kicking in. The air was sharp on her face and she finally hit the floor with a crouch.

Her feet hurt and her ears rang as she frantically searched for Magnus. There he was, standing next to the woman whom the baby belonged to. Looking healthy enough.

Only then did Tessa realize that the baby in her arms was silent. No pulse. No breath. Dead.

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><p>Later that day, Tessa stared out the same window, but with Magnus at her side. There were still some workers –and firemen, to Tessa's surprise- extinguishing the last bits of fire. There were many injured and two dead, including the baby, whose name, Tessa learned, was Billy.<p>

The woman had screamed and shouted when she saw her Billy dead, and Tessa couldn't help but cry, too. Then she and Magnus helped a little with the injured, although they couldn't do much without raising suspicion.

"It wasn't your fault, things like that happen all the time," Magnus said now, "And I'm proud of you."

"I know. But I can't stop thinking about that woman. She lost her child, and her husband is in the navy," Tessa whispered, "She is all alone. And if no one in the entire world cared for you, did you really exist at all?"

Magnus smiled like he had heard that before, and Tessa wondered how, since she had come up with it on her own.

"Yes, I believe. When one cares about one's self, and when one has a purpose, then one really exists even if one was alone."

Tessa decided to take some time to think about that.

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><p><strong>AN: Winter break ends in two days, and I procrastinate a lot, so I don't know how often I can update :\ Anyway I hope you liked this chapter. Thanks all for the nice reviews, follows and favorites!**

**Also, I usually suck at plotlines and action scenes,which is why the last two chapters were more drabble-y. So if you have any comments on either of these, or if you have any ideas for future chapters, please let me know :D**

**(Sorry if this chapter interferes with anything in history or TBC) See y'all!**


	4. Bad News

**This chapter doesn't necessarily take time after the previous chapter.**

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><p><strong>1941<strong>

Today was Tessa's least favorite day of the year. That was because tomorrow was her favorite.

When there are merely hours before one's favorite day, Tessa thought, each of these hours felt like a year itself, and thus, she hated that day.

Tessa started the day by taking a shower, then she had breakfast –an omelet and coffee, which Magnus had gotten her addicted to- then went back to her room. She looked through her closet, trying to find the perfect clothes for the next day. She ended up picking a red knee-length dress with black dots, and its sleeves reached her elbows. If Jem could like it, she thought, he would.

Magnus was sitting outside, translating a Latin manuscript, oblivious to her nervousness. Tessa didn't know why she always got nervous before her annual meeting with Jem; it wasn't like he was a stranger, but ever since Will had passed away –she whimpered at that thought- he had started to become more and more emotionless.

After picking the clothes, Tessa had nothing to do. So she started pacing back and forth her room in her and Magnus's New York apartment. There wasn't much in her room; brown bed with beige sheets, brown closet, white walls, and a brown desk for her studies. She also had a few souvenirs from her life in the London Institute; a framed picture of her and Will reading A Tale of Two Cities, her son's Herondale ring, a copy of her daughter's first book she had written, and finally, a black and white picture that included the very old London Institute crew: Will, Jem, her, Jessamine, and Charlotte.

While Tessa was pacing around in her room, she was thinking of the excuse she was going to use this time to get Magnus to make her a Portal. She had already used "I want to visit my favorite bookstore in London" and "I want to check on the head of the Institute there" and some others. But Tessa had a feeling that Magnus knew she was onto something; she was going to London at the same time of the year every year…

A knock on her door drew her out of her thought. She went to open it, and Magnus was standing there, with a letter in his hand; Jem's confirmation of their meeting tomorrow, no doubt.

Magnus smiled at her, "A letter for you, again."

She mumbled a thanks, took the letter hastily out of his hand, and turned to read it:

_Dear Tessa,_

_You know our meeting on Blackfriars Bridge is sacred to me, but the mundane war in London is worse than ever, and the Silent Brothers are being frequently called by the Institutes all around the world. Therefore, I cannot meet with you this year._

_With great apologies,_

_Jem_

Tears trickled down Tessa's cheeks, but she barely noticed them. How could Jem just dismiss their meeting like that, and only one day before it? She understood that he was already breaking various rules by going to the bridge every year, just to see her, but still. That day, that mere hour, had helped her survive, had helped her go through Will's death. Looking forward to seeing Jem had kept her going even when she was at her lowest, thinking longingly of death. And now he justـــ

"He isn't wrong, you know. The warlocks in London are sending notes to all our kind to stay away from there. I wasn't going to let you go anyway," said Magnus from behind her.

She turned around to face him, her sadness turning to anger, "You read the letter? How could you do that? It's personal!"

"I only read it now, over your shoulder, when I saw you crying. I apologize, perhaps I shouldn't have, but I got worried."

He seemed to be waiting for her response, but all he got from her is more tears and her best deadly glare.

"Besides, it's not like I didn't know about your meeting anyway."

"Excuse me?!"

"Come on, Tessa. I'm not stupid. Each year at the same approximate time, a fire letter arrives, then the next day, you leave to London, and you come back happy yet somehow sad. I could see the pattern. So last year I followed you."

"You- you _followed_ me?" Tessa looked around for something to hit Magnus with. That meeting was their secret! No one was supposed to know. It took her years to tell even Will about it.

"Tessa…" Magnus moved forward to hold her. She would have pushed him away, but she was already overwhelmed with anger and despair to find the energy for it. Instead she found herself crying into Magnus's shirt, just as she had so many times before. She hated it. She hated people seeing her crying and feeling sympathetic towards her, but the tears wouldn't stop flowing.

"I understand," he murmured, "Well, I probably don't. I don't go sneaking around and breaking I-don't-know-how-many rules to see a good-looking Silent Brother, but I'm here for you."

_I'm here for you. _He had said that so many times before, and he always kept that promise. Tessa sometimes wondered if she could ever pay him back, or if there would ever be a time when she didn't owe him. They had forever, she knew, perhaps someday she could be there when he needed her.

"But- but you can't tell anyone," Tessa said through her tears, "It's a secret."

"Yes, of course. Your secret will go with me to grave. That will be a long time."

Tessa laughed, "Good. Oh, and Magnus," she fixed him with a look, "if you ever dare read my letters or follow me again, I will-"

She couldn't tell him what she would do, because he had already raised his hands in surrender and left.

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><p><strong>Thanks all for reading! It would be awesome if you left constructive reviews; I feel like this chapter wasn't as good as the others. Thankfully, I already have the idea for the next chapter, so hopefully it won't take as long as this one did. Also, if you have any ideas for future chapters please let me know :D<strong>


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